Monthly Archives: October 2015

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‘They don’t care who gets killed’: Ex-drone pilot turned whistleblower to RTGuilt-ridden American drone pilots continue to quit in unprecedented numbers. One former secret mission operator, Brandon Bryant, who’s received a whistleblower award, spoke to RT of the horrors of indiscriminate killing from a safe distance. “The people that are giving the order to kill – they don’t care who gets killed as long as their target gets attacked…

Sweden introduces a six hour work daySweden is moving to a six-hour working day in a bid to increase productivity and make people happier. Employers across the country have already made the change, according to the Science Alert website, which said the aim was to get more done in a shorter amount of time and ensure people had the energy to enjoy their private lives.

Need stingray surveillance? Get a warrant! California gov signs landmark privacy lawA new law signed by California Governor Jerry Brown enacts sweeping digital privacy protections, such as imposing a warrant requirement for police to access nearly any type of digital data produced by or contained within a device or service. Governor Brown had rejected several similar proposals in past years, but on Thursday he signed the California Electronic Communications Privacy Act.

Another one bites the dust: MERS wins againMERSCORP Holdings announced Monday that it secured another victory over a homeowner who challenged its authority to assign a mortgage. MERS, parent of the electronic mortgage registry with the same name, had its authority upheld this time by the Court of Appeal of California for the Third Appellate District, which heard a lawsuit brought against MERS and Bank of America (BAC) by homeowners claiming wrongful foreclosure.

How Elizabeth Warren picked a fight with Brookings – and wonThe hero of the country’s liberal movement launched a surprise attack Tuesday against Washington’s most revered Democratic-leaning think tanks – and drew blood. Sen. Elizabeth Warren, stepping up her crusade against the power of wealthy interests, accused a Brookings Institution scholar of writing a research paper to benefit his corporate patrons.

DNA-based vaccine clears nearly half of precancerous cervical lesions in clinical trialUsing a novel synthetic platform for creating vaccines originally developed in the laboratory of David Weiner, PhD, a professor of Pathology and Laboratory Medicine from the Perelman School of Medicine at the University of Pennsylvania, a team led by his colleagues at the Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine, has successfully eradicated precancerous cervical lesions in nearly half of the women who received the investigational vaccine in a clinical trial.

Linux for drugsSeeking to create a world of affordable medicine for all, Tata Trusts has announced their support for the creation of the Open Source Pharma Foundation (OSPF) at OSP2, the 2nd Annual Global Open Source Pharma conference (Photo Courtesy: www.uae1.com) Held at Castle Rauischholzhausen in Germany, the OSP conference brought together researchers, NGOs, industry professionals, philanthropists and entrepreneurs who aim to create better, cheaper, and faster ways to bring novel therapeutics to market.

On-duty police officers have shot and killed more than 700 people this yearThe tally of people shot and killed by on-duty police officers passed 700 on Wednesday night – a fatal milestone that is almost double the highest number of police shootings ever reported by the FBI for an entire year – according to a Washington Post database tracking all shootings death at the hands of police this year.

Damning review links popular anti-depressant to youth suicideUpdated September 17, 2015 15:43:59 An Australian-led review of a popular anti-depressant drug has found it can tip young people into suicide and is no more effective than a placebo. The research team also uncovered evidence that the drug’s manufacturer downplayed its deadly side-effects and exaggerated its benefits.

Second Amendment RightsThe Second Amendment to our Constitution is clear. The right of the people to keep and bear Arms shall not be infringed upon. Period. The Second Amendment guarantees a fundamental right that belongs to all law-abiding Americans. The Constitution doesn’t create that right – it ensures that the government can’t take it away.

Businessman wins 11-year court battle over FBI’s surveillance gag orderA New York federal district court has ordered the FBI to lift a surveillance gag order that was imposed on a business man under the Patriot Act. Nicholas Merrill spent 11 years challenging its constitutionality. The case concerns the FBI sending a National Security Letter (NSL) to Merrill, who ran an internet service company, which requested access to his customer’s records.

Corbynomics: Quantitative Easing for People (PQE)What is termed Corbynomics is Jeremy Corbyn’s proposal that: “The Bank of England to be given a new mandate to upgrade our economy to invest in new large scale housing, energy, transport and digital projects: Quantitative Easing for people instead of banks…

The US Military and the Myth That Humanity Is Predisposed to ViolenceWe have this tragic misperception that humanity is predisposed to violence. The truth is that humanity is predisposed to peace. The default position for humanity is that of conscientious objector to war and violence. In our work at the Center on Conscience & War, this is proven to us daily, through our individual conscientious objectors.